Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:27

His saying—Exalted is He—: “Then on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them”—meaning, He will humiliate them. It is apparent that the plural pronouns refer to those who plotted beforehand, as if it were said: “Those before them plotted, so Allah—Exalted is He—punished them in this world, then He will punish them in the Hereafter.” The particle thumma (then) serves to indicate the disparity between the two punishments, alongside its indication of temporal delay.

The placement of the adverbial phrase before the verb is said to be for the purpose of restricting the disgrace to the Day of Resurrection. The meaning intended by this is what is indicated by His saying—Exalted is He—: “And He will say”—that is, to them, to expose and rebuke them—“Where are My partners?” to the end of the verse. There is no doubt that this will only take place on that day. Some researchers have said that the fronting is not for that reason, but because the report of their punishment in the world implies that they have a punishment in the Hereafter, leaving the soul in anticipation of its arrival, asking about it, and wondering what it is, even while certain that it is in the Hereafter. Thus, the speech was conducted in a manner that suggests the primary focus is their punishment, rather than the fact that it is in the Hereafter.

It was also mentioned that the aforementioned clause is a conjunction to an elided one upon which the speech proceeds—that is, this which is understood from the metaphor of the punishment of these plotters who say of the Great Quran, “Legends of the ancients,” or what is even more general than that, including the punishment of those who plotted before—is their punishment in the world, “and on the Day of Resurrection He will disgrace them,” etc. Then he said: “The pronoun refers either to those deluded regarding the Holy Quran, or to them and those among the plotters they resembled. Yet, limiting it to them is rejected by the sequence and context.” (Al-Alusi adds: There is in this an act of committing what is contrary to the apparent meaning—let it be considered.)

Some have interpreted "disgrace" (al-khizy) as that which follows the punishment of the Fire, because it is the perfect instance of it, as the Almighty said: "Indeed, whoever You admit to the Fire, You have disgraced." It has been argued against this that His saying—Exalted is He—“Where are My partners?” up to the end, refutes it, because this occurs before they enter the Fire. It was replied that the conjunction (wa) does not necessitate sequence. You know that it is better—despite this—to interpret it as absolute humiliation. The attribution of the "partners" to Himself—Mighty and Majestic is He—is for the slightest connection, based on their claim that they are partners to Allah—Exalted is He, far above what they associate with Him—so the verse is like His saying—Exalted is He—: "Where are your partners whom you used to claim?" It is also permitted that what is mentioned is a narration by Him—Exalted is He—of their own attribution, for they used to attribute them, saying, “Allah’s partners.” In this is an increase in their rebuke that is not present in, for example, "Where are your idols?" if it were said. It is not hidden that this is disgrace and insult through speech; if "disgrace" was interpreted previously as the punishment of the Fire, then the verse points to two disgraces. I have indicated the first one first because it is more appropriate to what precedes it.

The majority recited shuraka’iya with a long vowel, a hamzah, and a fatha on the ya. A group did the same but made the ya quiescent, so it is dropped in recitation due to the meeting of two quiescent letters. Al-Bazzi, on the authority of Ibn Kathir (with a difference of opinion reported from him), read it with a short vowel and a fatha on the ya. A group denied this, claiming that this recitation is not transmitted, asserting that the shortening of a long vowel is not permissible except out of necessity; this is not as they claimed, for it is permissible in standard speech. It has also been argued that the kasrah-marked hamzah before the ya was deleted for the sake of lightening, and it is not entirely the same as shortening a long vowel—especially since it has been narrated from Ibn Kathir to shorten the one in Al-Qasas and wara’iya in Maryam, and from Qunbul to shorten an ra’ahu istaghna in Al-Alaq. How, then, can that be considered a necessity? Yes, Abu Hayyan said: "Its occurrence in speech is rare, so know that," for many people have overlooked it.

“...whom you used to dispute regarding”—that is, whom you used to contend and argue with: the Prophets—peace be upon them—and their followers regarding their affair, while you claimed they were truly partners, when they (the prophets) had already prepared for you the contrary of that. Some interpreted mushaqa (contention/dispute) as enmity, but interpreting it as arguing is better so that the attachment of fihim (regarding them) to it becomes apparent, without needing to make the fi (in/regarding) causal. It is said that contention has a "dispute" in it, taken from "breaking the staff" (shaqq al-asa), or because each of the disputants is on one side (shaqq).

The intent of the interrogation is to summon them for intercession by way of mockery and rebuke, for they used to say: "If what you say is true, the idols will intercede for us." The unveiling of their status does not necessitate their actual absence; rather, it is sufficient for that to be their lack of presence by the title they claimed to be characterized by. So, there are no partners there, nor their locations. It is said that this necessitates absence, and it is said that it is cast between them and their partners at that time so that they might seek them out at an hour in which they hung their hopes upon them; or that since they did not benefit them, they are as if they were absent. There is no need for this after you have learned that it has been argued against the statement "so that they might seek them out..." that it is not sound, for the reality of the matter has become clear to the polytheists, so they retracted that false claim; how then can their "seeking them out" be imagined? It was answered that it is possible they become heedless due to the greatness of the terror, so they seek them out. Furthermore, what is mentioned necessitates the gathering of the idols, which is what many verses indicate, such as His saying—Exalted is He—: "Indeed, you and what you worship other than Allah are the firewood of Hell," and His saying—Exalted is He—: "Its fuel is men and stones," according to one opinion. I do not see what prevents interpreting "partners" as their false objects of worship in a way that includes beings of intellect as well.

The majority read tusha Qun with a fatha on the nun, while Nafi' read it with a kasrah, and it is narrated from Al-Hasan. One should not pay attention to the weakening by Abu Hatim. A group read it with shaddah (emphasis) on the basis that they assimilated the nun of the nominative case into the nun of protection, and the kasrah is for the deletion of the ya of the first person and the sufficiency of it (the kasrah)—that is, "you contend with Me." This is because contending with the Prophets—peace be upon them—and their followers is like contending with Allah—Exalted is He; were it not for that, it would not be valid to attach the contention to Him—Exalted is He. As for when it means arguing, it is apparent that they did not argue with Allah—Exalted is He. As for when it means enmity, it is because they do not believe they are enemies of Allah—Exalted is He; as for His saying—Exalted is He—: "Do not take My enemy and your enemy as allies"—meaning the polytheists—it is also interpreted without doubt.

“Those who have been given knowledge said”—from among those at the gathering, namely the Prophets—peace be upon them—and the believers who have been given knowledge of the proofs of monotheism, and who used to invite them in the world to monotheism, so they would argue with them and be arrogant toward them. Yahya ibn Salam restricted it to the believers, and the matter is simple. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—that they are the angels—peace be upon them—but we have not come across his restriction of them to that. Muqatil says they are the "watchers" (recording angels) among them. The speech of some implies they are the angels of death, as it was argued against the statement that they are the angels, that the obligatory term would then be "they take their souls" instead of "the angels take their souls," and that it leads to ambiguity where there should be specification and specification where there should be ambiguity, which is—as Shihab said—at the peak of error. It is said that the intent is everyone characterized by this title, whether angel, human, or otherwise. The view that the sound heart inclines toward is the first one—that is, those individuals say this as a rebuke to the polytheists, to show gloating over them, to confirm what they used to warn them of, and to realize what they had promised them. The preference for the past tense is to signify the certainty of its occurrence and its inevitability, as is the custom in His reports—Exalted is He—such as His saying—Exalted is He—: "And the companions of Paradise will call out..."

“Indeed, the disgrace...”—humiliation and ignominy. Al-Raghib interpreted it as the humiliation one feels shy about. “Today” is in the accusative case due to "the disgrace," according to the opinion of those who see the verbal noun acting [as a verb] with the lam, as in his saying: "Weak in striking his enemies," or it is in the accusative due to the implied "is" (al-istiqrar) in the adverbial phrase which is the predicate of inna. There is a separation between the agent and the object by the conjunction, but it is excused in the case of adverbial phrases. The al (definite article) is for presence—that is, the current day—and his bringing it is to signal that they were before that in honor and dispute. “And the evil”—the punishment—is from the disgrace; mentioning this is for emphasis. “...upon the disbelievers in Allah and His signs and His messengers—peace be upon them.”